When We Are Alone
by Faablen
Summary: AU.Caught in the world of shadows, assassins tread their veiled existances.Two tortured souls are caught and twisted together by fate.Does misery love company? KK
1. Harsh Realities

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Rurouni Kenshin, whose personalities I have laid into my own twisted plot.

**When We Are Alone**

By Faablen

-

_Chapter One: Harsh Realities_

The rain fell in light thrashes upon the wind, berating the night with its heartless throws. Crimson bangs did little to shield his amber eyes from the storm, and his red mane weighed heavily on his head. Rain and blood mixed as they dripped down the blade of his katana. Hitokiri Battousai stood alone on the sidewalk staring into the face of his victim, as if he could watch the soul escape from this world. He pulled his chin to the sky staring down the heavenly waters that mocked him in their vain attempt to wash clean the scene that lay written in blood on the sidewalk.

He sheathed his sword with one practiced stroke, feeling only the rain on his cheek. Before long a black sedan pulled smoothly to the curb. A tall man stepped from the vehicle, wincing as the rain stung his face. Frustrated, he jerked an umbrella open before he set to his task. The Battousai watched silently as the man identified the corpse and searched for plausible evidence. Satisfied, the tall man stood, regarding the katana-bearing man with a fearful respect, before nodding the assassin's dismissal.

Battousai walked the streets alone silently, cursing the rain as he pulled up his collar. The lighted windows of scattered bars chimed with the street lamps as the only guard against the storm. He ducked under one of the eaves to make his alibi of a few drinks at a pre-designated bar. His final instructions for the night: Clean-up in the washroom, make his presence memorable, take the scenic route home. The night would be made longer by the rain. He glided softly through the dimly lit room towards the restroom.

The florescent lights flickered overhead as Battousai stared at his own reflection in a cracked mirror. He traced a finger along the line of blood that streamed from the gash in his cheek. He had been careless, he knew. He should have been untouchable. Cold water burned at his fingertips as he rinsed the blood from his face, from his clothes, from his mind. He reeked of it. Even now, he could hear the last pleadings his past victim, this supposed threat to the governed:

_'I cannot die here…' _

_'You do not have a choice.'_

_The Battousai slowly approached the man that lay sprawled before him, unarmed. Fear plastered the man's eyes; twisted his features. _

_'I cannot die here!'_

_The man launched himself at the Hitokiri, desperation in his screams._

_The katana's edge silenced his cries. _

Cold water raked down his face as the Battousai tried to pull the thoughts from his mind. It was not his place as an assassin to become involved with the lives he was ordered to dispatch. Ask no question: a formidable ruling of his trade. He quickly bandaged the irritating wound - no need to be bleeding all over the place - before returning to muted lights of the bar.

Outside, a woman of small stature noisily stalked in, out of the rain. She pushed her hair roughly from her eyes. Shrugging off her coat, Agent Kamiya chose an isolated barstool. The assassin watched the woman with interest. He had been attempting conversation with the bartender, who was obviously more interested in returning home than acting as an adequate host. Battousai would have been more than willing to leave the bartender alone if he didn't need her to front an alibi - especially with the prominent scratch that lined his cheek.

Kamiya had stormed out into the rain to escape the presence of her most recent assignment: an irritating, pig-like diplomat who was currently involved with questionable business. She found him more than a little difficult to deal with and even more impossible to keep a cool cover when he started spewing idiocy from his flapping lips. Sipping at her grey-goose martini, Kamiya wished her patient and placid sister had been able to take this assignment in her stead. She let out an irritated sigh when she felt eyes on her back. Setting down her drink, she casually glanced around for the culprit. Her eyes landed accusingly on a man sitting four chairs to her right.

He was striking, to say the least. Flaming red hair framed empty amber eyes that seemed to look through her. She suppressed a shudder and fought back the suspicion that she was looking at a fellow killer. Still, she felt a sting of familiarity. His gaze pressed into her eyes and stopped the breath in her throat. Her heart pounded in her ears as she strained to discern what stirred behind those dreadful orbs. She choked as she wrenched her eyes from his… a monster.

The Battousai had not been watching her long before her eyes locked with his. She was noticeably disheveled from whatever life she had walked out from, but her eyes seemed collected and calculated. As he stared, he blinked in surprise to see a hint of brilliant blue in her dark eyes. Contacts? But she looked away, as expected. She had a whisper of strength as she had held his raw gaze longer than most could withstand.

Apathetic to attempting another conversation with the ill-mannered bartender, Battousai pulled money from his pocket, setting it on the counter with a metallic rattle. And without a word, the amber-eyed assassin slipped away into the dark streets of New York, leaving only the hushing of rain puddles in his wake.

Kamiya turned to watch him go. The pain of his presence lifted from her chest with a heavy sigh. The man - if he could even be considered human - wielded the gaze of a vengeful God, leaving only fear and desperation in his wake. She pulled her hands from her lap, ignoring their tremors.

'_What_ was he!'

She pressed her palms down onto the bar, forcing herself to stand on shaking legs. His eyes still haunted her mind. Throwing her money on the counter, she pulled her coat around her in a whirl. She had been gone too long. She strutted out into the night, welcoming the rain upon her face, wishing the cold droplets could wash the chaos from her mind.

'Who was he…'

And why did her throw her mind into such turmoil with naught but a glance? Her hastened steps carried her down the dark path that returned her to the life she was growing to hate. Once, she had believed it wrong to kill in cold blood…

She arrived on the steps of a grand estate, with her heart still quivering in her chest. She cast her gaze to the heavens as the rain dotted her eyes with blindness. The cold shocked her eyes like the prick of tears. Sorrow closed around her throat as she tried to swallow. It had been years since God had washed her eyes with tears. And she knew there would be years yet to come. She dipped her chin, her breaths billowing from her nose and mouth.

'What am I doing? I have come too far. Too far to be taking hesitant steps now.'

Kamiya lifted her head with a proud thrust. Glaring at the door as though she could see the horror that lay within, these words escaped in whispers from her trembling lips:

"I will bring a sword upon you, thus saith the Lord."

-

AN: End Chapter One. To be continued…


	2. The Agency

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Rurouni Kenshin, whose personalities I have laid into my own twisted plot.

**When We Are Alone**

By Faablen

_Chapter Two: The Agency_

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The heels of her pumps clicked as the struck the marble floors, leaving trails of water in their wake. Her footsteps echoed though the air as Kaoru struggled to breathe normally.

'This is normal protocol. Simple, pure protocol.' She pulled a veil from her pocket and attached it over her face. 'Nothing more than routine. Nothing out of the ordinary.' She blinked to reassure herself that the contacts were still in place.

Then, a muffled thud reached her ears and her heart fluttered against her chest. Kaoru spun around, katana drawn and prepared to bring death. Eyes wide, Kaoru scanned the room: empty. Again a shuffling noise and Kaoru's breath hitched. She advanced toward the noise with her katana clutched by white knuckles. Rain splattered against the windows of the spare bedroom. She inched forward, her ears ringing as they strained to hear any abnormal sounds. Suddenly, a flash of silver caught the corner of her eye and her katana ripped silently through the air toward the offender.

The determination in her eyes turned to shock, and Kaoru audibly gasped before bringing the blade to a halt just before it could strike the innocent: a small boy, Senator Dasho's nephew to be exact. Quickly, Kaoru retracted the katana and tried to calm her sporadic breaths. The boy whimpered with pure fear pouring as tears form his eyes. Pity struck at Kaoru's heart before she swung the hilt of the sword to connect to the side of the child's skull. He collapsed, his feeble mewling at an end. Kaoru straightened herself pulling in a ragged breath.

'Focus.' She told herself. 'FOCUS! Now is NOT the time to hesitate!' Anger drove out any hinted fear that might have remained in her veins. 'There is no room for mistakes here! So, get a grip!' Kaoru set her jaw and glided silently from the room.

The search for her victim was short-lived. Senator Dasho- the man she had been working reconnaissance on for the last three weeks; the man that was as corrupted as he was perverted; the man that she had quickly grown to detest with every fiber of being - was sitting, predictably, in his study. She did not knock. She offered no preamble as she drew the katana from its sheath. The Senator sputtered various phrases and accusations, none of which seemed to reach her ears. Anger appeared on his face as he clumsily drew his own blade from his side. The small sword was almost comical next to the girth of the man that grasped it.

"So, my little flower, this is where your true intentions lie?"

She circled, with her blade waiting quietly at her side.

"Tell me, little flower, who sent you?"

Dasho lunged. Kaoru parried with ease, his words falling on deaf ears.

"Come now. Who sent you?" His voice was beginning to choke with fear. And yet, Kaoru had no answers for him. Her eyes were dark and empty. Her only thoughts lingered on the kill, the mechanical swings of her sword. All humanity seemed to have been washed out with the rain.

Her next attacks were delivered against this own sword in a short hacking motion. The clang of metal pricked in the air. Terror had claimed the Senator's lungs as he gasped for his last breaths. Kaoru took one step back before sweeping behind him without prelude. His gasp of surprise was his final voice on this Earth. The katana sliced through the back of his neck, down to cut his spinal cord and pierce his heart. Senator Dasho's body sunk to the floor as Kaoru removed the blade from his lifeless flesh.

Kaoru straightened and pulled the blade through a fistful of cloth. Quietly she sheathed the katana and pulled her cell from her pocket. Speed dial connected her to the Agency.

_'Kaoru.'_

"It's done." She flipped the phone shut. Her words rang through the emptiness.

A beaded rosary hung heavily in her pocket.

----------

It was nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon when the Battousai awoke from his restless sleep. The night had been long, a closing assignment, so the assassin had been granted the morning off – to report at the offices in the evening. The only sort of vacation a Hitokiri might expect.

He dressed efficiently, forced some food down his throat, and set out the door – katana concealed beneath a long trench coat. Battousai set a quick pace as it was nearly a 45 minute walk to Headquarters. He preferred to walk, justifying the unnecessary exercise with his paranoid excuses: He refused to drive around with an identification plate strapped so evidently to his bumper and, simply, he did not believe in the use of public transportation. Just the word 'public' made it untrustworthy. The Hitokiri walked on, quite apathetic to the entire matter.

The dark high-riser that was his Headquarters blended well with the surrounding city blocks. Heavily tinted windows reflected infiltrating sunrays and any curious glances. Battousai slipped through the revolving doors, flashing his authorization to the guard that stood by the elevators.

Six…

Seven…

Eight…

The elevator lurched to a halt. With a swaggering step, the Hitokiri walked out as the doors pulled open. He made a beeline toward one of the back offices. Other workers on the floor consciously avoided his path, knowing the man's powerful and dangerous position in the Agency. His flaming hair was warrant enough to part a crowd but all those who were employed in the towering structure were also familiar with his piercing amber eyes. Horror stories were often exchanged about catching his glance by mistake. A single look, it was said, was enough to tear the breath from your mouth.

The Battousai could almost feel the fear that was sagging in the air as he walked through the cubicles. If he was inclined, he might have smiled. Their blind fear was always means for partial amusement. Unexpectedly, considering the tension in the air, Battousai's strides brought him to collision with a smaller frame.

"Watch-it, Punk!" The smaller form snapped from behind a veil of blue-black hair before continuing on without a second glance.

The Battousai stilled, taking a moment to identify the walking aggravation: an assassin. Her curt style and lack of manners was a painful indicator.

"Tomoe!" The now-identified woman called, "Step! I ain't gonna wait all night for your ass!"

"Keep your sharp tongue down your target's throat, where it belongs, Kaoru. I don't want none of it." A mirror image of the first woman passed in front of him. She paused and looked up at him with dark eyes. "Excuse her."

The first woman scoffed before she began to strut down the hall with her sister at side.

Battousai watched them go with interest. He rarely crossed paths with other assassins that worked from the Agency. Their less than genteel ways had always amused him. However, the grating manners of the twins were not what had fascinated him. The woman – this Kaoru – who had so indiscriminately called him a 'punk' was the same that had managed to entertain his stare the night before. Although, this time, her brilliant sapphire eyes had not been clouded by dark contacts. The Battousai pushed the insensitive woman from his mind as he, at last, made his way toward his original destination.

A rift of air-conditioning ruffled his bangs as the Battousai entered the familiar corner office. A breathtaking view of Kyoto spread from the floor-to-ceiling window panes. Across the metallic floor, the room stood inharmoniously empty save a large gray machine and plaque with the Agency motto engraved in the gleaming gold. The plaque he passed by almost bitterly heading straight to the unattractive collection of gray metal. Mounted near the front was a standard recognition system. The Hitokiri allowed the small red beam scan over an amber iris. The machine gurgled and beeped in recognition. A small tray produced a red envelope: his next assignment.

The foundation and mastermind behind the Agency preferred to deal directly with all high-profile interactions. Unfortunately, disclosing his identity would be a critical danger to the entire organization. Thus the system of the ugly gray machine emerged. The red envelope was just proof that the founder had an ironic sense of humor.

Battousai unceremoniously tore the envelope open and let his eyes run over the sharp, black words. _His _next assignment didn't start for a few more days:_ "A man of new money is buying bloody favors into society. Megumi would brief the details."_ Battousai casually tossed the letter to the steel floor, chased by a newly struck match. The controversial letter burned as he strode from the room to find his infamous Megumi.

Megumi was one of few in this building that wielded respect on all floors. Previously a doctor by trade, her practice collided with the Agency some late night when a desperate assassin sought out medical attention. Since then, Megumi eventually became a general caretaker for all the shadow assassins. Consequentially, the only one who held their identities and weaknesses and respect, all of which make her a dangerous asset. However, with her alone did all assassins find able to express some semblance of compassion, and took her safety and happiness as a personal responsibility. Megumi stood at the head of a fragmented and loveless family of Hitokiri.

Battousai rounded a corner to see Megumi standing with one hand placed proudly on her hip, talking on the phone. The exchange was irritating her, to say the least, as she bit out several curses in little less than a scream. The Battousai stood behind her, feigning patience, as he waited for the rampant woman to hang-up on her victim. Finally, Megumi abruptly threw down the receiver and turned to the red-haired man behind her.

"Battousai. Come for your assignment, I assume."

He merely nodded, allowing the extremely vocal woman to continue at what she did best.

"Well, I'm almost sorry to say that this one's a little unorthodox for you…"

Both were interrupted by two familiar female voices:

"Kaoru, stop sulking and get your whoring ass over here! Megumi's waiting."

"Don't test me, Tomoe! I ain't in the mood for your antics!"

"Are you implying that you're ever in a good mood? Last time I checked, you were running on eternal-PMS."

"Shut-it, slut. When did my gentle sister turn into such a treacherous bitch?"

"Seven minutes after I was born - when you _barged_ into my life."

Two women came into view with a walk that swayed their hips in time. Outside of the cold expression in their eyes, they were very beautiful women. Long dark hair fell over their shoulders, framing porcelain faces with delicate features. Each an identical copy of the other, the only discerning feature between them was their drastic eye color. Tomoe possessed dark, endless eyes, while Kaoru looked at you with rebellious blue.

"Ladies," Megumi ushered the twins over to where the Battousai stood. "I would like you to meet your new partner."

All glances came to collide with distant amber orbs.

----------

AN: End of Chapter Two. _to__ be continued…_

Please Review!

Faablen


	3. Reshuffling

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Rurouni Kenshin, whose personalities I have laid into my own twisted plot.

**When We Are Alone**

By Faablen

_Chapter Three: Reshuffling_

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"Ladies," Megumi ushered the twins over to where the Battousai stood. "I would like you to meet your new partner."

The identical twins gaped at Megumi.

"I work alone." The man with crimson hair stated without any hesitation or intention to compromise.

"Not any more, Battousai." Megumi retorted curtly. "You're our best, but you lack the artful charm that these two can offer."

"Charm?" Battousai questioned rudely, raising an irritated eyebrow. "Did you _hear_ them coming down the hall?"

"Check your mouth, punk, before I do it for you!" Kaoru had stepped forward, a scowl pulling at her lips. Her sister was similarly eyeing the new intrusion. Tomoe and Kaoru had always worked as a pair: a duet that reigned over high society and powered the underground reconnaissance of this Agency. And Tomoe saw no logic in disrupting the delicate balance of lies her twin had helped to spin as an on-going cover in the highest form of public exposure.

"Cool it, Tanuki. Both of you. If you'll follow me, I think we should continue this in my office." Megumi snatched some papers from the counter and led the way down the hall. Battousai turned to follow, trailed by Tomoe and Kaoru – who sent the red-haired man mental death wishes.

All three assassins lined in front of her desk. Megumi smirked at the trained killers who looked like children told to play nicely.

"Your target is Jinei Udou, who is rapidly gaining power in high society by carrying out dirty favors himself. The man is a very gifted swordsman, and he isn't stupid. His system of protection has proved uniquely impenetrable. Most importantly it is based around his constant public presence."

"Doesn't the man ever sleep?" Kaoru interrupted.

"Not alone."

Kaoru huffed, irritated. She knew very well the "company policy" on innocent bystanders: no one but the target was to be harmed; the innocent are to remain just that, innocent. Kaoru had always held a hidden level of respect for that one rule. In actuality, the reason she had left her position with the government – dragging her sister with her – was for the lacking of such a rule. Kaoru bit her tongue on this argument, noting the sharply cast gaze Megumi had shot her way. Kaoru knew well that she was already in a certain level of violation over the attack of last night, more specifically, the boy that Kaoru had carelessly met under the thinly veiling darkness. Time would tell if the boy had any substance of memory to point any fingers…

"In short, the twins would be perfect of this job---"

"So why not let us have it," Tomoe glanced at the Battousai, "_as is_?"

"--- _if_ you had the experience to better him with a katana."

Both women squirmed with displeasure. Few Hitokiri preferred to hear the basis of their careers being insulted.

"Battousai, on the other hand, has none of the mild-mannered qualities to pass undetected in anything high-class."

He scoffed as he folded his hands into his trench coat.

"Tanuki here will be Battousai's escort to all public affairs and help him establish a reputation in the public eye."

Kaoru coughed suddenly as though she'd choked on something foul. "You can't expect me to work with that punk!"

"Believe me the feeling is mutual." Battousai sneered.

"Look!" Kaoru turned her angry blue eyes on flame-haired irritation. "I don't want to have to cover your ass when your foul mouth saunters into civilization!"

"Kaoru's right," Tomoe turned to Megumi, with the composure her sister lacked. "Battousai has no etiquette training."

Megumi nodded, once again appreciating Tomoe's control. "As his escort, Kaoru will be responsible ---" She didn't get to finish.

"HELL, NO!" Kaoru threw her hands up in violent protest. "I ain't gonna baby-sit some arrogant piss-ant just cuz …!"

The Battousai's voice attempted to overpower his attacker's. "I've tolerated insults long enough…!"

Tomoe attempted to rationalize with the two, her voice joining the overly audible fray.

"SHUT UP!" Megumi had slammed her fist on the desk, as it creaked in a protest of its own. She stared down those responsible for her headache. Taking in a slow breath, Megumi pursed her lips and recomposed. "This is nonnegotiable. You are Hitokiri for this Agency – some of our best – but you forget your place. You _will_ cooperate on this assignment or necessary actions will ensue. Now, Kaoru, you will _respectfully_ assist our Battousai with his manners until further notice. Battousai, you are to absorb every word she dictates. I want him acting a true gentleman by the upcoming party at the Seta's. Tomoe, your escort will be arriving shortly. He is more than presentable in society, so take the next few days off."

"Megumi," Tomoe bore a questioning look in her eyes, "I have an escort: Akira. Is he not ---"

"Akira is no longer relevant to your situation." Megumi stated clearly but with a hint of sympathy behind her eyes. Tomoe saw it as the blood drained from her face.

"Are we understood?"

Everyone nodded regretfully.

"Very well. You may go."

All three captives hastily strut from the confines of Megumi's office.

Outside the door, Kaoru turned to confront the Battousai with forced dignity. "Battousai, I would request you contact information."

"Do you have a pen?" The red-head forced out through clenched teeth.

Battousai jotted down the number of his cell phone, provided through the Agency.

"Thank you." Kaoru coughed. "I will contact you at my earliest convenience to set up a correspondence for tomorrow."

"I look forward to it." It was all he could do to bite back the stinging sarcasm.

Continuing down the hall, the Battousai took a sharp left, and the twins a right. They disregarded any semblance of proper farewells, as neither party would have mourned a fatal accident of the other.

----------

Tomoe and Kaoru walked in synchronized steps through the parking garage, Tomoe rummaging through the bottomless pit she called her purse.

"You drive," Her head still bent over the bag, "I have a call to make."

"Fine with me," Kaoru smirked. It must have been a _very_ important call because Tomoe never placed her life so carelessly at the hands of Kaoru's 'driving style'.

Tomoe clutched to the dashboard as the lowered black Jetta dragged around the corner. Kaoru grinned as the lights flashed to green in obedience. The creases in Tomoe's frown deepened as she pressed redial for the fifth time.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Hey! You've reached Akira. I'm not avail---_

Tomoe flipped the phone shut, twisting to face her sister. "He's not answering." She stated simply though her panic was mirrored transparently in her voice.

"Who?" Kaoru questioned almost flippantly.

"Akira!" Tomoe pressed more urgently, demanding her twin's attention. "Akira is not answering his phone!" She turned to the windshield more submissively. "…He always answers when I call…"

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Maybe someone finally caught wind of his stupidity and administered the coup de grace. Though, knowing him, probably less of the grace bit---"

"KAORU!" Tomoe hissed with obvious fear. "Don't say such things!"

"Tomoe, and I mean this affectionately, you have hella bad judgment in men. Seriously! I don't know _what_ you see in the guy…"

"Well, Kaoru, _and I mean this affectionately_, I don't care what you think of Akira! The fact is that he's not answering. And I _know_ you saw the look in Megumi's eyes when she off-handishly mentioned that he was 'no longer relevant'. What am I supposed to think of that!"

Kaoru, more than mindedly irritated, huffed an angered retort. "Look! Not my problem!"

"I'm your god-damn sister! What's my problem is YOUR problem!"

"AUGHH!" Kaoru unconsciously added pressure to the gas pedal. "Don't get all familial on me now! But really, the dumbass probably just went to take a piss and got caught in his zipper. Do you really expect to the man to take his phone _everywhere_!" Kaoru glanced meaningfully at her sister, who shrugged in half-defeat. "Obviously, he's gonna at least turn it on vibrate when he's creeping with that cute girl next-door." Kaoru flashed a grin just in time to see her sister aiming a potentially lethal fist.

Kaoru ducked to the left, pulling the steering wheel with her. The Jetta veered into a lane not its own as blaring horns ensued. Kaoru looked out the drivers' side window to see a well manicured finger displayed in an unkind gesture.

The agitated assassin shouted out the window. "It's New York bitch! Go to Wisconsin if you want gentle driving!" She then unceremoniously cut in front of the offending white Mercedes and sped for the on-ramp. The two women glanced toward each other, and broke into abandoned laughter.

----------

The Battousai sailed through the darkening streets unnoticed or ignored. His apartment building appeared around the corner as his pace quickened at the thought of relief from the encroaching world.

Safe inside, the Hitokiri checked the premises before locking and double-bolting the door. Fixing himself a humble, though adequate, dinner, the red-head thought of the strange coincidence that had not gone unnoticed that day:

The nicer of the twins, Tomoe, who had the unfortunate devil of a sister, had mentioned her former escort. Nothing abnormal, standard questioning for a briefing. Strange, only because her man carried the same uncommon name as the man that had laid harm to his face. The Battousai ran his finger along the forming scar on left his cheek.

_Akira_

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AN: End Chapter Three. _to__ be continued…_

For my sister, whom I know reads though refuses to review and will be turning 16 this month: Happy Birthday and god help anyone who meets you on the road!

Faablen


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